Pop-up shops

Talking about marketing strategies, with Christmas just round the corner retailers are thinking up new ways to tempt customers.

Full article : New High Street trend for pop-up shops

pop-up (N): a new window that opens quickly on a computer screen in front of what you are working on .

Not a bad idea ... and because it's a temporary shop customers will rush to buy it all before they shut up!

Just a reminder

No Class Today

Hi all,

Yesterday I could hardly speak when I started the class, and ended up with no voice at all. Today I still can't speak and have a bit of a temperture, so no class today.

I've been to the virtual doctor this morning, my first visit of this kind, but he didn't really give me a solution, so if any of you have an effective remedy, please let me know.

I've contacted the class delegates (4B,4C)about this today and will contact the class delegates (4A) tomorrow morning.

- Update Wednesday 18

No class today either, sorry. Voice a bit better (thyme is proving a powerful remedy) but still can't speak.

- Update Thursday 19

Ok, things are getting better. I'll try to come today and see what happens, so no holiday today Sorry kids !

The Rapping Flight attendant

Maybe you'd pay more attention to the safety instructions with this flight attendant?
Do you want it with subtitles? This video is from English Central, the site I told you about, with lots of videos to choose from and the possibility of using interactive subtitles, as you can see here if you take a couple of minutes of your time to register (it's free). Check it out, because that's a really good site. I've added the link in the 'video bits' section of this blog.

Just give it a try!

Obama's first year

After one year in office, Obama's progress has been subject to examination by the media. This Newsy video uses multiple sources to review Obama's first year

By the way, NEWSY, "the news with more views", is an excellent resource. Unlike CNN, Sky news or other major news channels, Newsy reports are compiled from multiple sources. And a big plus ...transcripts are also provided.

The French, the Italians, the Scots, the...

Why Are The French So Bad At English?

We are talking about nationalities this week, and it seems that when it comes to learning English, French schoolchildren seriously underperform. France currently is on the 69th position among 109 countries on the standardized Test of English as a Foreign Language, aka TOEFL. In an attempt to remedy this state of affairs, French President Nicolas Sarkozy recently “unveiled an emergency plan for teaching foreign languages in the nation's schools with the objective that 'all our high school students must become bilingual, and some should be trilingual'."

Does that ring a bell ? Are politicians copying from each other? Is it globalization ? Don't you think it's the same everywhere? Here's the full story.

Oh, by the way, and when you thought you could get by in half decent English, then you meet a Scot from Glasgow (a Glaswegian)

In Scotland, the situation of languages is a bit complex. So complex that a company is even looking for a translator into English! Full story here

Halloween jokes and poems

Some Halloween jokes ....

and a well-known poem: Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven. The poem depicts a mysterious raven's midnight visit to the narrator, sad and mourning the loss of his love, Lenore.

You can watch :

the Simpson's version ...

or the masterpiece, interpreted by Vincent Price.

There's still another excellent version interpreted by Christopher Walken with beautiful illustrations by Gustave Doré.

Happy Halloween!

Podcasting

Some of you told me the other day that you liked running, and that you would like to be able to put some English into your brain while you run. Great idea! 'Podcast' is the word.
What is a podcast? Sorry, but I had to go to the dictionary for that : " A podcast is a radio programme that is stored in a digital form that you can download from the Internet and play on a computer or on an MP3 player ". All the radio stations have podcasting sites, for example, the BBC, or CNN:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/
http://edition.cnn.com/services/podcasting/

BUT If you want something a bit more guided, the BBC has an excellent site, BBC Learning English, with all sorts of podcasts which you can download into your Ipod or MP3, and the good thing about it that you can also download the script (so you can read it when you do your final stretching!) . I do recommend this site.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/general/

I'd go for "Words in the News" as a regular feature, or "London Life" and "Weekender" in the archive (scroll down to the bottom of the page) . The episodes are always short (5 minutes approx.) so download as many as you can so that you don't run out of listening material (to run out of something, a nice double phrasal verb!)

I guess listening while you're running is a good idea because your mind is in a relaxed state so it can process and "digest" better whatever comes from the outside. Of course, you can also use podcasts when your're driving -or having a bubble bath with scented candles.

PS: Talking about phrasals, Face up to Phrasals is also a good section dealing with phrasal verbs, with short and illustrative sequences exemplifying a specific phrasal verb in context. This is not a podcast, so you need to be logged in to see this feature.

So thanks for asking and enjoy your running-listening!

Watch and learn

This looks interesting. Lots of videos, you can choose if you want them with or without subtitles, you can click on any of the words you don't understand and you'll get a definition, you can even record your own speech.... Japanese technology at its best!
Let me know what you think.

In sickness and in health

Obama's Healthcare reforms and the Swine Flu hype are on the news these days...


Dave Granlund, Massachusets
Joe Heller, WisconsinChang